High kill, low kill or no kill shelters
I write about this every couple of months because it is an irritating thing we do as rescuers when we label rescues with the high kill, low kill or no kill label.
You see, in my vocabulary, dead is still dead. Unless you know an animal control agency has done something against the law or treated an animal inhumanely, the euthanization of dogs and cats is sometimes necessary.
Now before you get all twisted, let me state I don't like to think about that, but it is a necessary evil because we humans have made it so. We have allowed our pets to roam and have litters of puppies. We have not said anything as our friends have done the same. We have allowed the proliferation of puppy mills because we wanted those purebred dogs. We have also allowed backyard breeders to flourish, not because of their love of the breed, but because they wanted to make money off the backs of the animals. We have purchased these dogs and in some cases paid high prices for years without stopping. We have not spayed or neutered our pets because we thought it would alter their personality or because we wanted our children to see the miracle of birth.
We cheer now when a law is passed to protect the animals but in most cases it results in a slap on the wrist, a small fine and freedom. Freedom to go back and continue doing what they were doing before they got caught. The laws have very little bite to them because animals in this country are considered property, and as such, an owner can do what he wants.
The continued bashing of animal control agencies and shelters doesn't help the animals. It turns people away from these agencies to go elsewhere because they don't like the politics of those agencies.
Euthanasia has been around for a very long time. I was very young the first time I took a trip to the dump with my grandfather and saw the mound of dead bodies from Polk County's animal control. My grandfather had to explain to me why those animals were piled up 10 or 12 feet in the air, covered in flies and being pecked at by vultures. Was that a pretty sight for a young girl to see? I can tell you it wasn't. It was heartbreaking.
So my suggestion is we quit labeling these animal control agencies and start trying to help them. Volunteer, adopt, get involved in the legislative process, work a spay/neuter day or any other avenue you can work to help the animals.
Talk to your friends but don't be nasty, be nice. If you even convince one person to adopt a shelter dog instead of buying one or stop one friend from having a backyard breeding operation, helping another friend get their pet spayed or neutered or writing your legislator, you are on the road to acheiving the no-kill goals.
Calling agencies high kill and chastising them for doing a job which, unfortunately is still necessary in this country will do nothing for the animals.
You see, in my vocabulary, dead is still dead. Unless you know an animal control agency has done something against the law or treated an animal inhumanely, the euthanization of dogs and cats is sometimes necessary.
Now before you get all twisted, let me state I don't like to think about that, but it is a necessary evil because we humans have made it so. We have allowed our pets to roam and have litters of puppies. We have not said anything as our friends have done the same. We have allowed the proliferation of puppy mills because we wanted those purebred dogs. We have also allowed backyard breeders to flourish, not because of their love of the breed, but because they wanted to make money off the backs of the animals. We have purchased these dogs and in some cases paid high prices for years without stopping. We have not spayed or neutered our pets because we thought it would alter their personality or because we wanted our children to see the miracle of birth.
We cheer now when a law is passed to protect the animals but in most cases it results in a slap on the wrist, a small fine and freedom. Freedom to go back and continue doing what they were doing before they got caught. The laws have very little bite to them because animals in this country are considered property, and as such, an owner can do what he wants.
The continued bashing of animal control agencies and shelters doesn't help the animals. It turns people away from these agencies to go elsewhere because they don't like the politics of those agencies.
Euthanasia has been around for a very long time. I was very young the first time I took a trip to the dump with my grandfather and saw the mound of dead bodies from Polk County's animal control. My grandfather had to explain to me why those animals were piled up 10 or 12 feet in the air, covered in flies and being pecked at by vultures. Was that a pretty sight for a young girl to see? I can tell you it wasn't. It was heartbreaking.
So my suggestion is we quit labeling these animal control agencies and start trying to help them. Volunteer, adopt, get involved in the legislative process, work a spay/neuter day or any other avenue you can work to help the animals.
Talk to your friends but don't be nasty, be nice. If you even convince one person to adopt a shelter dog instead of buying one or stop one friend from having a backyard breeding operation, helping another friend get their pet spayed or neutered or writing your legislator, you are on the road to acheiving the no-kill goals.
Calling agencies high kill and chastising them for doing a job which, unfortunately is still necessary in this country will do nothing for the animals.
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